Pressure driven irrigation system

ABSTRACT

A water irrigation system is provided for irrigating a plurality of zones. The water irrigation system includes a set of acoustic pressure modulators for generating a set of modulated acoustic pressure signals that include an actuating pressure signal and a de-actuating pressure signal. The set of acoustic pressure modulators include different subsets. The different subsets control different ones of the plurality of zones by selectively providing the same or different ones of the actuating and de-actuating pressure signals to the different ones of the plurality of zones at any given time. The water irrigation system further includes a set of acoustically-reactive irrigating elements disposed in each of the plurality of zones, each including an acoustically-reactive oscillating disk based water emitter. The acoustically-reactive oscillating disk based water emitter is selectively actuated or de-actuated responsive to the actuating pressure signal and the de-actuating pressure signal, respectively.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to information processing and,in particular, to an acoustic pressure driven irrigation system.

Description of the Related Art

Efficient irrigation systems with accurate local control of waterdelivery become increasingly necessary in agriculture to manage plansindividually in order to increase yield and address the increasing waterscarcity due to demand and climatic variations. In particular, forvineyards, irrigation by dripping water along the vine rows has been awidely adopted method, and ways of water delivery control based onaverage conditions of the soil have been developed. However, in areaswhere the value of the land is very high, an additional benefit can beachieved by full automation of the irrigation system and differentialirrigation, even if conditions such as slope, wind incidence, soilquality, and so forth, vary along the irrigated line. Thus, there is aneed for a method capable of locally controlling the water deliverywithin the scale of meters.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present principles, a water irrigationsystem is provided for irrigating a plurality of zones. The waterirrigation system includes a set of acoustic pressure modulators forgenerating a set of modulated acoustic pressure signals that include anactuating pressure signal and a de-actuating pressure signal. The set ofacoustic pressure modulators include different subsets. The differentsubsets control different ones of the plurality of zones by selectivelyproviding the same or different ones of the actuating and de-actuatingpressure signals to the different ones of the plurality of zones at anygiven time. The water irrigation system further includes a set ofacoustically-reactive irrigating elements disposed in each of theplurality of zones, each including an acoustically-reactive oscillatingdisk based water emitter. The acoustically-reactive oscillating diskbased water emitter is selectively actuated or de-actuated responsive tothe actuating pressure signal and the de-actuating pressure signal,respectively.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method is providedfor water irrigation for a plurality of zones. The method includesconfiguring a set of acoustic pressure modulators to generate a set ofmodulated acoustic pressure signals that include an actuating pressuresignal and a de-actuating pressure signal. The set of acoustic pressuremodulators include different subsets. The different subsets controldifferent ones of the plurality of zones by selectively providing thesame or different ones of the actuating and de-actuating pressuresignals to the different ones of the plurality of zones at any giventime. The method further includes configuring a set of acousticallyreactive irrigating elements disposed in each of the plurality of zones,each including an acoustically-reactive oscillating disk based wateremitter. The acoustically-reactive oscillating disk based water emitteris selectively actuated or de-actuated responsive to the actuatingpressure signal and the de-actuating pressure signal, respectively.

These and other features and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof,which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The disclosure will provide details in the following description ofpreferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary irrigation nozzle 100 for an analytics drivenirrigation system, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples;

FIG. 2 shows another exemplary irrigation nozzle 200 for an analyticsdriven irrigation system, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary configuration 300 of irrigation nozzles for ananalytics driven irrigation system, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present principles;

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary method 400 for analytics driven irrigation, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary variable rate drip irrigation system 500, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 6 further shows one of the water emitters 510 and a portion of driptube 520 of FIG. 5 in a closed (blocked) position, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 7 further shows one of the water emitters 510 and a portion of droptube 520 of FIG. 5 in an open (unblocked) position, in accordance withan embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 8 shows broadside oscillations 800 of a disk in fluid, to which thepresent principles can be applied, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present principles;

FIG. 9 shows edgewise oscillations 900 of a disk in fluid, to which thepresent principles can be applied, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present principles;

FIG. 10 shows in-plane rotary oscillations 1000 of a disk in fluid, towhich the present principles can be applied, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 11 shows out-of-plane rotary oscillations 1100 of a disk in fluid,to which the present principles can be applied, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary method 1200 for variable rate dripirrigation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 13 shows a portion of system 500 of FIG. 5 having a standing wave1301 in a drip tube thereof with a standing wave magnitude greater thana threshold magnitude, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples; and

FIG. 14 shows a plot 1400 of flow rate versus pressure for a wateremitter 510, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present principles are directed to an acoustic pressure drivenirrigation system.

In an embodiment, the present principles can provide a method capable oflocally controlling the water delivery within the scale of meters. In anembodiment, the control will respond to assessments of local propertiesthat are growing plants, where the assessment can be provided by avariety of methods such as, for example, but not limited to, satelliteimages, local sensors, and so forth.

In an embodiment, the present principles determine the water need ofindividual plants based on the moisture level of the soil or themoisture within a plant. These variations are determined spatiallyacross a large area and the irrigation system is capable to respond tothese variations by differentially delivering the amount of water suchthat soil moisture or plant vigor determined through its greenness andleaf area index became uniform across the original irrigated area. Inorder to achieve this, the water is delivered differentially, meaningthat a drier area will be irrigated for a longer period of time, while awetter area will be irrigated less.

In an embodiment, the present principles control the amount of waterdelivered to the soil along the length of an irrigation pipe. The waterdelivered by different segments of the irrigation pipe is controlled bysetting the desired irrigation pattern, selectively opening or closinglocal irrigation nozzles along the irrigation line following resultsfrom periodic observation through satellite, airplane, drones, or usinga distributed sensor network across the area. Once the irrigationrequirement is determined, it is transmitted to a central computer thatwill issue commands to various segments of the irrigation system suchthat different amounts of water are delivered. A soil moisture sensornetwork distributed across the area can provide feedback when themoisture level reaches a level that is uniform across the area orreaches a desired threshold.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary irrigation nozzle 100 for an analytics drivenirrigation system, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples. The irrigation nozzle 100 is configured to be responsive toacoustic signal transmission.

The irrigation nozzle 100 includes a piezo transducer 110, a band-passfilter 120, a rectifier circuit 130, a flip-flop circuit 140, and asolenoid valve 150.

The irrigation nozzle 100 is configured to be responsive to soundemanating from an acoustic source 199. The acoustic source 199 caninclude an amplifier. The acoustic source 199 can be, for example, butis not limited to, a speaker and so forth.

The piezo transducer 110 converts sound to an electrical signal. Inparticular, the pressure caused by the sound emanated from the acousticsource 199 is converted into an electrical signal.

The band-pass filter 120 passes electrical signals having a certainpredetermined frequencies.

The rectifier circuit 130 converts an alternating current signal outputfrom the bass-pass filter 120 into a direct current signal.

The flip-flop circuit 140 outputs a signal that changes from 0 to 1 andvice versa depending upon the output of the rectifier circuit. Theflip-flop circuit 140 can be an RS or other type of flip-flop circuit.

The solenoid valve 150 opens and closes, depending upon the outputsignal of the flip-flop circuit 140. The solenoid valve 150 isinterchangeably referred to herein as a “water emitter”.

FIG. 2 shows another exemplary irrigation nozzle 200 for an analyticsdriven irrigation system, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles. The irrigation nozzle 200 is configured to beresponsive to acoustic signal transmission.

The irrigation nozzle 200 includes a piezo transducer 210, a rectifiercircuit 230, a flip-flop circuit 240, and a solenoid valve 250.

The irrigation nozzle 200 is configured to be responsive to soundemanating from an acoustic source 299. The acoustic source 299 caninclude an amplifier. The acoustic source 299 can be, for example, butis not limited to, a speaker and so forth.

The speed of sound in water is approximately 1500 m/s, which provides along single propagation at low signal frequencies. For a 1 km longpipeline, with two ends having a membrane, f₀=C/2 L=0.75 Hz. Then, forexample:

f₄₀=30 Hz, a pressure max occurs every 25 m

f₆₀=45 Hz a pressure max occurs every 16.6 m.

Thus, by adequately positioning the irrigation nozzles 200, they can beopened and closed selectively by varying sound frequency. Moreover,because of the resonant conditions, the irrigation nozzles 200 may bepowered by the acoustic energy alone.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary configuration 300 of irrigation nozzles for ananalytics driven irrigation system, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present principles.

The configuration 300 involves sector 1 through sector n, where eachsector includes one or more irrigation nozzles (e.g., such as nozzle 100of FIG. 1 or nozzle 200 of FIG. 2). Moreover, the configuration 300 caninvolve an acoustic source 399 per sector as shown, as can use oneacoustic source for more than one (e.g., all) sector.

The acoustic sources 399 can be controlled via an irrigation systemcontroller/computer 360. The controller/computer 360 can be centrallylocated. The controller/computer 360 can communicate with the acousticsources 399 using wired or wireless technology.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary method 400 for analytics driven irrigation, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

At step 410, provide an irrigation system having acoustic poweredirrigation nozzles. For example, irrigation nozzles 200 from FIG. 2and/or irrigation nozzles 300 from FIG. 3 can be used.

At step 420, determine a set of selected frequencies corresponding toactuating and de-actuating a corresponding set of irrigation nozzles,where each of the irrigation nozzles has a corresponding actuatingfrequency and a corresponding de-actuating frequency.

At step 430, drive an excitation source at the corresponding actuatingfrequency to actuate (open) one or more irrigation nozzles responsive tothat actuating frequency.

At step 440, drive an excitation source at the correspondingde-actuating frequency to de-actuate (close) one or more irrigationnozzles responsive to that de-actuating frequency.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary variable rate drip irrigation system 500, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

The variable rate drip irrigation system 500 involves a set of wateremitters (collectively and individually denoted by the reference numeral510), a set of drip tubes (collectively and individually denoted by thereference numeral 520), and a set of acoustic transmitters (collectivelyand individually denoted by the reference numeral 530). In anembodiment, the acoustic transmitters 530 can be speakers. Accordingly,for at least the embodiment of FIG. 5, the terms “acoustic transmitter”and “speaker” are used interchangeably herein.

FIG. 6 further shows one of the water emitters 510 and a portion of driptube 520 of FIG. 5 in a closed (blocked) position, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles. FIG. 7 further shows one of thewater emitters 510 and a portion of drop tube 520 of FIG. 5 in an open(unblocked) position, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

Each of the water emitters 510 includes an oscillating disk 511 withinan emitter cavity 512. The mass and radius of the oscillating disk 511will determine the frequency of operation for individual emitters. Anysuitable material that responds to differences in acoustic pressureunder the described conditions (e.g., varying from being wet to dry) canbe used to form the oscillating disk 511.

The drip tubes 520 are connected to the acoustic transmitters 530.

A standing/traveling wave 688 will couple to the oscillating disk 511through the water emitter cavity and will actuate the oscillation (ofthe oscillating disk 511).

Once the fluid in the drip tube 520 is activated, the water emitters 510will allow water to drip through it (see FIG. 7).

In an embodiment, each of the water emitters 510 include a vibratingelement (oscillating disk 511). The water emitters 510 couple the waterin the drip tubes 520 with the external world and allows water to passthrough only when the oscillating disks 511 therein are vibrating andwater can pass by and be ejected. The system 500 will use a membranewhose frequency is determined by the mass and size of the vibratingdisk.

Normally all of the water emitters 510 are closed (see FIG. 6), so thereis no dripping.

An acoustic wave is generated by the acoustic transmitter 530, thusestablishing a standing wave 688 in that segment of the drip tube 520.

The water emitters 510 are frequency matched to the oscillations of theoscillating disks 511 such that when the acoustic transmitter power ison, the oscillating disks 511 in the water emitters 510 are oscillatingand, hence, the system 500 is irrigating.

The power and frequency for each acoustic transmitter 530 (each segmentof the irrigation system) can be turned on independently. The length ofa segment will determine the size of the irrigation zone and will alsocontrol the frequency of the standing wave.

In the exemplary implementation of FIG. 5, the variable rate dripirrigation system 500 includes segments 581, 582, 583 of differentlengths. The segments 581, 582, 583 are separated by kinks 591, 592 thatwould attenuate the oscillation at the end such that in the adjacentsegments the pressure will not be attenuated. In operation, thedifferent segments can be activated by providing an alternating currentsignal to the speaker. The frequency and power of the signal willdetermine the drip in that segment.

FIGS. 8-11 show various oscillation modes of a disk in fluid, to whichthe present principles can be applied, in accordance with an embodimentof the present principles. In particular, FIG. 8 shows broadsideoscillations 800, FIG. 9 shows edgewise oscillations 900, FIG. 10 showsin-plane rotary oscillations 1000, and FIG. 11 shows out-of-plane rotaryoscillations 1100.

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary method 1200 for variable rate dripirrigation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

At step 1210, provide an irrigation system having acoustic powered dripemitters. For example, system 500 and drip emitters 510 from FIG. 5 canbe used.

At step 1220, determine respective operating frequencies (actuatingfrequencies and de-actuating frequencies) for the respective disks in arespective set of water emitters. The operating frequencies can bedetermined on an emitter basis or a segment basis, where segments can beseparated by kinks in the acoustic transmission line (e.g., drip tube)used to provide the excitation acoustic signal.

At step 1230, drive an excitation source at the corresponding actuatingfrequency to actuate one or more water emitters responsive to thatactuating frequency.

At step 1240, drive an excitation source at the correspondingde-actuating frequency to de-actuate one or more water emittersresponsive to that de-actuating frequency.

In an alternate embodiment, which can be readily applied to system 500,the acoustic transmitter can be used to acoustically address individualdrippers by modifying the standing acoustic wave with multiplefrequencies such that the amplitude of the wave excites specificemitters and not others. Each membrane is constructed such that itpasses droplets of water only when a threshold pressure is exceeded.Waveform addressing is implemented by selecting standing wavefrequencies such that only the desired emitters exceed this thresholdand are thereby selected. The ability to acoustically address individualelements on a drip line can be used to mitigate the number of segmentsrequired and improves the spatial precision of dispensing.

The command to actuate is provided by a central computer that holds theschedule calculated from the maps that quantify the variability of soilmoisture or greenness of the canopy. The map is divided into smallareas, where the smallest size is the detection resolution of themapping method and this variability is converted to a command that isissued to an acoustic actuator that will generate the signal for aperiod of time until the desired amount of water is dispensed.

FIG. 13 shows a portion of system 500 of FIG. 5 having a standing wave1301 in a drip tube thereof with a standing wave magnitude greater thana threshold magnitude, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

As shown, the magnitude of the standing wave 1301 is above a thresholdmagnitude 1302, thus turning on the middle emitter but not the emittersto the left and to the right of the middle emitter.

Hence, an embodiment of the present principles is based on the easinessof propagation of low frequency sound in water. The speed of sound inwater is ˜1500 m/s, and the attenuation is low at low frequencies. Theseproperties allow for addressing irrigation nozzles located in differentlocations of a long irrigation pipe by making use of the soundresonances. In this approach, there is a sound source (possibly aspeaker) powered by programmable wave generator, abutting a membranewhich closes the first end of the irrigation pipe, and a second membranethat closes the opposite end, creating in this way a sound propagationsimilar to those occurring in a flute. In these conditions, thefundamental frequency f₀ is ˜C/2 L, where C is the speed of sound inwater, and L is the pipe's length, which for a 1 Km long pipe f₀ is˜0.75 Hz For said situation, there are even and odd harmonics atf_(n)=nC/2 L. As an example for localization of the pressure waves toselectively open or close irrigation nozzles along the pipe, we considern=40, and n=60, respectively. For n=40, f₄₀=30 Hz, and a pressuremaximum occurs every 25 m, whereas for n=60, f₆₀=45 Hz, and a pressuremax occurs every 16.6 m. Thus, by adequately positioning the irrigationnozzles, they can be selectively addressed by a maximum in pressure.

FIG. 14 shows a plot 1400 of flow rate versus pressure for a wateremitter 510, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.At low pressure, the flow rate is zero and, upon reaching a thresholdpressure, the flow rate increases to a desired amount.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like,and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” ofthe present principles, as well as other variations thereof, means thata particular feature, structure, characteristic, and so forth describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the present principles. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment”, as well any other variations,appearing in various places throughout the specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

It is to be appreciated that the use of any of the following “/”,“and/or”, and “at least one of”, for example, in the cases of “A/B”, “Aand/or B” and “at least one of A and B”, is intended to encompass theselection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of thesecond listed option (B) only, or the selection of both options (A andB). As a further example, in the cases of “A, B, and/or C” and “at leastone of A, B, and C”, such phrasing is intended to encompass theselection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of thesecond listed option (B) only, or the selection of the third listedoption (C) only, or the selection of the first and the second listedoptions (A and B) only, or the selection of the first and third listedoptions (A and C) only, or the selection of the second and third listedoptions (B and C) only, or the selection of all three options (A and Band C). This may be extended, as readily apparent by one of ordinaryskill in this and related arts, for as many items listed.

Having described preferred embodiments of a system and method (which areintended to be illustrative and not limiting), it is noted thatmodifications and variations can be made by persons skilled in the artin light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood thatchanges may be made in the particular embodiments disclosed which arewithin the scope of the invention as outlined by the appended claims.Having thus described aspects of the invention, with the details andparticularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and desiredprotected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A water irrigation system for irrigating aplurality of zones, comprising: a set of acoustic pressure modulatorsfor generating a set of modulated acoustic pressure signals that includean actuating pressure signal and a de-actuating pressure signal, the setof acoustic pressure modulators including different subsets, wherein thedifferent subsets control different ones of the plurality of zones byselectively providing the same or different ones of the actuating andde-actuating pressure signals to the different ones of the plurality ofzones at any given time; and a set of acoustically-reactive irrigatingelements disposed in each of the plurality of zones, each including anacoustically-reactive oscillating disk based water emitter, theacoustically-reactive oscillating disk based water emitter beingselectively actuated or de-actuated responsive to the actuating pressuresignal and the de-actuating pressure signal, respectively.
 2. The waterirrigation system of claim 1, wherein the acoustically-reactiveoscillating disk based water emitter performs drip irrigation,responsive to a specific oscillation frequency of the actuating pressuresignal from the subset of acoustic pressure modulators in controlthereof.
 3. The water irrigation system of claim 1, further comprising atubing element, the tubing element comprising segments separated bypressure attenuating tubing bends, each of the segments forming aseparate one of the plurality of irrigation zones.
 4. The waterirrigation system of claim 3, wherein at least some of the acousticpressure modulators provide different actuating signals and de-actuatingsignals to at least some of the plurality of irrigation zones at the anygiven time to provide differential irrigation between the plurality ofirrigation zones.
 5. The water irrigation system of claim 4, wherein thedifferential irrigation comprises different irrigation rates.
 6. Thewater irrigation system of claim 4, wherein at least some of theplurality of irrigation zones are of different sizes.
 7. The waterirrigation system of claim 1, wherein the set of irrigating elementsprovide variable irrigation rates there between based on at least one ofa frequency and a power of the actuating signal.
 8. The water irrigationsystem of claim 1, wherein the set of acoustic pressure modulatorscomprises a set of audio speakers.
 9. The water irrigation system ofclaim 1, wherein each of the irrigating elements in any given one of theplurality of zones are separately addressable for selective actuationand de-actuation at any given time.
 10. The water irrigation system ofclaim 9, wherein the set of acoustic pressure modulators generate theactuating pressure signal for at least some of the irrigating elementsin the given one of the plurality of zones based on a sum of pressuresignals that exceed at least one of a threshold frequency and athreshold amplitude such that the at least some of the irrigatingelements in the given one of the plurality of zones are active whileremaining ones of the irrigating elements in the given one of theplurality of zones are inactive.
 11. The water irrigation system ofclaim 10, wherein at least two of the pressure signals that are summedhave at least one of different amplitudes and different frequencies. 12.A method for water irrigation for a plurality of zones, comprising:configuring a set of acoustic pressure modulators to generate a set ofmodulated acoustic pressure signals that include an actuating pressuresignal and a de-actuating pressure signal, the set of acoustic pressuremodulators including different subsets, wherein the different subsetscontrol different ones of the plurality of zones by selectivelyproviding the same or different ones of the actuating and de-actuatingpressure signals to the different ones of the plurality of zones at anygiven time; and configuring a set of acoustically reactive irrigatingelements disposed in each of the plurality of zones, each including anacoustically-reactive oscillating disk based water emitter, theacoustically-reactive oscillating disk based water emitter beingselectively actuated or de-actuated responsive to the actuating pressuresignal and the de-actuating pressure signal, respectively.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising a tubing element configured intosegments separated by pressure attenuating tubing bends, each of thesegments forming a separate one of the plurality of irrigation zones.14. The method of claim 13, further comprising configuring at least someof the acoustic pressure modulators to provide different actuatingsignals and de-actuating signals to at least some of the plurality ofirrigation zones to provide differential irrigation between theplurality of irrigation zones.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein atleast some of the plurality of irrigation zones are of different sizes,and wherein the differential irrigation comprises different irrigationrates.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the set of irrigatingelements is configured to provide variable irrigation rates therebetween based on at least one of a frequency and a power of theactuating signal.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein the irrigatingelements in any given one of the plurality of zones are configured to beseparately addressable for selective actuation and de-actuation at anygiven time.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the set of acousticpressure modulators is configured to generate the actuating pressuresignal for at least some of the irrigating elements in a given one ofthe plurality of zones based on a sum of pressure signals that exceed atleast one of a threshold frequency and a threshold amplitude such thatthe at least some of the irrigating elements in the given one of theplurality of zones are active while remaining ones of the irrigatingelements in the given one of the plurality of zones are inactive.